Bombardier wins East Midlands train maintenance deal

ABELLIO, which took over the operation of the East Midlands Railway (EMR) franchise in Britain on August 18, together with rolling stock leasing company Eversholt Rail, have awarded a £133m three-year contract to Bombardier to maintain the fleet of class 222 200km/h DMUs.

Bombardier built the 27 trains and maintained them for the previous franchisee Stagecoach. The trains will continue to be maintained at Derby Etches Park depot.

The class 222 trains operate inter-city services between London St Pancras, Nottingham, Derby and Sheffield. However, they will be replaced by new bi-mode trains supplied by Hitachi Rail Europe from 2022 onwards.